Leicester City ‘open talks’ with former Newcastle United man after deal for ex-Leeds United boss ‘collapsed’

A former Newcastle United boss is now being eyed by Leicester City after the Foxes failed to land their primary target.

Leicester recently parted ways with Brendan Rodgers amid a hugely disappointing season that has left them battling relegation this season. After the decision was made to move on from the man that won them their first FA Cup, former Leeds United boss Jesse Marsch was eyed up, but it has now been all-but confirmed that any deal with the American is off.

Marsch is said to not want to manage in the Championship next season, and there is clearly a big risk of the Foxes dropping down to the Championship, given they currently sit inside the bottom three. Instead, Leicester are now said to be turning their attention to former Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez.

According to Fabrizio Romano, negotiations are ongoing with the Spanish boss to see if a deal can be reached with the Premier League’s final run-in already ongoing. Benitez last worked in the Premier League with Everton, but his spell on Merseyside didn’t last long amid a relationship that seemed destined to fail given his Liverpool connections.

Benitez enjoyed a much more favourable spell with Newcastle between 2016 and 2019, and in his first few months at St James’ Park, he wasn’t able to save the Magpies from relegation despite a good run of results. He did, however, lead the club back to the Premier League the following season, and he stabilised Newcastle in the top flight in the following years.

Leicester are hoping the Spaniard’s no-nonsense brand of football will help keep them in the Premier League, with the Foxes currently two points from safety with eight games remaining. It would be a big style shift from Rodgers, though, and indeed from prime target Marsch.